10 AEW Wrestlers You Won’t Believe WWE Passed On

7. Penelope Ford

WWE announced in late 2018 the most recent crop of athletes trying out for the company at the Performance Centre. Amongst the class was former UFC fighter Eric Spicely, 2nd generation talent Cal Bloom, and many more indie hopefuls trying to made it to the big leagues.

But it was Penelope Ford who garnered the most attention online for trying out in the class. She was even heavily promoted by WWE themselves online for being there, stemming from the hype she amassed competing in CZW, CHIKARA and many other promotions, as well as her recent showing against Jazz at NWA’s 70th Anniversary Show.

Unlike others in the class, WWE chose to not go any further with Penelope, which is odd given her natural charisma, passion for the business and background in gymnastics. She in the end showed them it was their loss though. Only months later she signed with AEW and regularly demonstrated her awesome talents on episodes of Dynamite and Dark, managing her real-life partner Kip Sabian and competing in sensational matches with Riho and Hikaru Shida.